2017 has given investors a thrilling ride. Of course, heading into the New Year, the market highs have all of us wondering how much life is left in what has been one of the longest bull markets in history. For investors seeking a way to future-proof your portfolio into 2018, look no further than Robotics, Automation, and Artificial intelligence (RAAI).

Indeed, RAAI may be one of the most important investment opportunities of our generation. In the first 11 months of 2017, the ROBO Global Robotics & Automation Index—the leading stock index created in 2013 to track the robotics and automation revolution for investors—returned an incredible 47%, significantly outperforming broad equity market indices.

Perhaps even more impressive is that the multi-decade transition to advanced robotics is still in its infancy—and the ingredients for a major breakthrough are already in place. Costs are rapidly declining across key enabling technologies such as computing, sensing, and communication.

There has been an explosion in performance capabilities that dramatically expand the scope of RAAI and how it is applied in nearly every industry. At the same time, the world is generating an almost unimaginable quantity of the fuel that powers artificial intelligence: Big Data. And that pace is growing at a frenetic pace of billions of gigabytes every day.